Exercise equipment has been designed to facilitate a variety of exercise motions. For example, treadmills allow a person to walk or run in place; stepper machines allow a person to climb in place; bicycle machines allow a person to pedal in place; and other machines allow a person to skate and/or stride in place. Yet another type of exercise equipment has been designed to facilitate relatively more complicated exercise motions and/or to better simulate real life activity. Such equipment typically uses some sort of linkage assembly to convert a relatively simple motion, such as circular, into a relatively more complex motion, such as elliptical.
Several elliptical motion exercise machines are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,707,321 to Maresh (the inventor of the present invention). Generally speaking, the Maresh patent discloses an exercise apparatus having a first portion of a connector link rotatably connected to a crank; a second portion of the connector link rotatably connected to a rocker link; and a third portion of the connector link rotatably connected to a foot support. As the crank rotates, the linkage assembly constrains the foot support to travel through a generally elliptical path. Some of the embodiments (including those shown in FIGS. 5-7) include arrangements for controlling the orientation of the foot support throughout the exercise motion. The Maresh patent also discloses that arm exercise members may connected to the linkage to facilitate contemporaneous exercise of the lower and upper body.
Another, more recent prior art exercise machine is designated as 300 in FIG. 3. The machine 300 includes a frame 310 and a foot supporting linkage assembly 303 movably mounted on the frame 310. The frame 310 includes a base 311 designed to rest upon a floor surface; a relatively rearward stanchion 312 extending upward and forward from the base 311; and a forward stanchion 313 extending upward from the base 311 and joined the rearward stanchion 312.
The linkage assembly 303 includes left and right cranks 320 rotatably mounted to the rearward stanchion 312 and thereby defining crank axis A'. Left and right intermediate links 330 have intermediate portions rotatably connected to distal ends of respective cranks 320, thereby defining respective pivot axes B'. First ends of the links 330 are rotatably connected to intermediate portions of respective left and right foot supports 340, thereby defining respective pivot axes C'. Opposite, second ends of the links 330 are rotatably connected to rearward ends of respective left and right rocker links 360, thereby defining respective pivot axes D'. Opposite, forward ends of the rocker links 360 are rotatably connected to the forward stanchion 313, thereby defining a common pivot axis E'. The foregoing features of the linkage assembly 303 are identical to embodiments disclosed in the Maresh patent. In order to control the orientation of the foot supports 340, left and right control links 350 are rotatably interconnected between the forward ends of respective foot supports 340 and intermediate portions of respective rocker links 360.
The present invention seeks to improve upon the prior art device 300 and/or the exercise machines disclosed in the Maresh patent.